“Every Frame a Painting:” The Art of Cinematic Observation

Last updated on: February 4, 2015 at 3:06 pm by Joseph Susanka

“Every Frame a Painting:” The Art of Cinematic Observation 2015-02-04T15:06:18-07:00 Joseph Susanka

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Last week, fellow Patheotte Frank “YIMCatholic” Weathers sent me this clip. It is good to have friends who understand one so well.

“A masterpiece of visual storytelling,” indeed. And Mifune is so, so good. (That’s not a remotely revolutionary or revelatory claim, I know. But still…gosh.)

Also, the takeaway is great. “If you like this exercise, try studying any other Kurosawa.” (The 2:35-2:50 section, where the video’s creator gives a quick, back-of-the-envelope way to think about the visual motifs in Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Hidden Fortress, is 15 seconds of pure genius, and well worth the price of admission.)

Minutes after I’d finished that film — “Math,” Frank called it — another friend sent me this clip. It is good to have friends who understand one so well.

When the narrator says that our eyes are “constantly switching between the two halves of the screen,” I realized that’s exactly what I was doing. Beady little, shifty little eyes. (Also, I am amazed by people that notice this sort of thing, rather than just doing it. I want to be like them. You know…observant.)

OK, here’s the buried lede. These videos are made by the same person, and are part of a web series called “Every Frame a Painting.”

I’ve created a helpful (and interactive!) flow chart.

So, the obvious question is “Who’s the guy behind ‘Every Frame a Painting?'” And the answer is “Tony Zhou,” whose describes his creative process thusly:

This word is way overused in San Francisco, but basically I iterate like a madman. First, I watch all the footage and then if something catches my eye I tag it with a keyword. During Michael Bay, I had an actual keyword called “lamp stuff”

Then I start with a skeleton voiceover, sometimes only a minute long. I’ll just start editing, trying out music, whatever, it’s very rough. After I see it, I go back and rewrite, re-record and re-edit.

For shorter videos, like Silence of the Lambs, I might only do 4 or 5 iterations and come up with the final version. Jackie Chan was 7, but they were full 9-minute iterations that took me days to do.

Again, well worth the price of admission.

Oh, which reminds me: Zhou’s stuff is free (more or less). And he’s promised a Tarkovsky-themed installment soon. Perhaps even a Stalker edition. (“Want!” doesn’t even begin to cover it. More like “Must, MUST have!”)

Attribution(s): “The Horse in Motion” by Eadweard Muybridge comes from the Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Division and is licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Movies

Quodlibets

Previous Post

February 3, 2015

Contributing to the Mendelssohn Birthday Bandwagon

Next Post

February 5, 2015 Imitation, Flattery, and Moths

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Baseball Faith Family Lenten Music Movies Music No Commentary Necessary Parked By the Jukebox Photography Politics Quodlibets Streaming Video Suggestions Summa Short Films Television The Man Behind the Booth Through a Lens, Darkly

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz